Study: Le Injuries Not Tracked Well

摘要

Non-fatal injuries to police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and other public safety workers are common, but little is done to track these incidents in order to improve prevention efforts, according to a study issued by the RAND Corp. "We have pretty good information about the causes of fatalities that strike public safety employees, but we do not do enough to track the less-severe injuries that routinely strike this group of workers," said Tom LaTourrette, lead author of the study and a physical scientist with RAND, a nonprofit research organization.rnNon-fatal injuries among public safety workers are far more common and create more costs for employers than fatal injuries, according to the study. The study found that firefighters and police officers become more susceptible to work-related disability as they age, with workplace injuries more likely to result in permanent disability at older ages, particularly for firefighters. Focusing on preventative measures for older public safety employees could help reduce disability retirement rates.